Norvic Philatelics - GB New Stamps and Special Postmarks

40th Anniversary of the Machin - 5 June 2007

2007 marks the 40th anniversary of the issue of new Queen
Elizabeth II definitives featuring
Arnold Machin's iconic bas-relief sculpture that replaced the Wilding
definitives.
Arnold Machin's 1967 portrait of Queen Elizabeth II (sometimes referred
to as the Machin head)
has been reproduced over 175 billion times

Arnold Machin created one of the most instantly recognisable
images in the world with his
classic sculpture of the Queen - and like many examples of great
design
it was simplicity that
was the key to its success. Machin admired the design of the
world's
first postage stamp, the Penny Black and its effective
use of a light image against a dark background.

When he was commissioned to create a new stamp design in early
1966, Machin worked from a
photograph of the coin mould he had designed a year earlier for
the new
decimal currency.
Over the course of the year the design changed significantly;
including
the removal of a tiara in
preference for the same diadem worn by Queen Victoria on the Penny
Black.
The public saw the very first Machin definitive in June 1967 when
the
4d sepia stamp was
issued.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Machin definitive the
present £1 violet definitive will be
withdrawn and replaced with a £1 ruby red Machin to mark the
Machin's ruby anniversary. The
new colour has been devised by Jeffery Matthews, originator of the
Jeffery Matthews colour
palette.

NEWS !

Now that the Smilers Sheets have been delivered (7 days after the
intended day of issue) we can tell you that this provides us with a new
variety. The Arnold Machin stamp on the Smilers Sheets has no
embossing thus it is a different stamp to that in the miniature
sheet and PSB. The phosphor frame around the portrait is also quite
different, although we have not tested the reaction to UV light. Album
producers will almost certainly make space for these stamps and they
will be separately listed in some catalogues. It has not been the
practice of Stanley Gibbons catalogues to separately list Smilers
stamps which are different (perforation, printing method), because they
are sold at a small premium over face value. We will supply this stamp
singly with or without labels.

Prestige Stamp Books have now been found with all panes
duplicated. For details and pictures (more to be added later), click
here.

The Miniature Sheet

The miniature sheet comprises of both the new ruby and the old
violet £1 Machins flanked by
two new 1st Class commemorative stamps featuring an early Machin from
1967 on the left
hand stamp and a portrait of the man himself on the right hand stamp.

The stamp

The
£1
ruby stamp will replace the mauve one issued in 1995, and will
be issued in conventional sheets of 200.

On the same date, the 2nd class definitive will be issued in pre-PIP
design, in sheets of 200, printed by De La Rue from cylinder D3.

Prestige Stamp Book

Accompanying the miniature sheet is a Prestige Stamp Book which
tells the story of the development of the Machin in Arnold Machin's
own words. Click on each pane to see a large image in a new window/tab.

Of note is the fact that 1st & 2nd class standard letter stamps
have reverted or will revert to the original Machin design. The 1st
& 2nd class stamps in this book will be PIP designs issued after
that reversion.

Smilers Stamps - the stamp album

A generic sheet consisting of 20 x 1st class Machin commemorative
stamps is designed to look like a page from a collector's album. The
stamps depicted on the labels are the complete range of pre-decimal
definitives, ½d, 1d, 2d, 3d, 4d sepia, 4d red, 5d, 6d, 7d, 8d
red, 8d blue, 9d, 10d, 1/-, 1/6, 1/9, 2/6, 5/-, 10/-, £1. The
labels also show the issue date and official colour descriptions.Note: The Arnold Machin stamp from the Smilers sheet is NOT
embossed, which means that it is a different stamp to that in the
miniature sheet and PSB.

Click on the image to display a larger one in a new window.

Miniature sheet - press sheet

Uncut Press Sheets of 12 miniature sheets are also available (price on
request). Unlike the 2006 Victoria Cross press sheets these are
perforated horizontally between miniature sheets, but not on the
trimming marks - see above

Technical details:

The Miniature sheet was designed by Jeffery Matthews in conjunction
with Together Design, and the PSB was designed by Together Design. The
£1 ruby, the miniature sheet and the PSB are printed in gravure
by De La Rue Security Print.
The Smilers Sheet was designed by Atelier Works, and we expect that it
will be printed by Cartor Security Print in litho.
All stamp and other images except Norvic FDCs are copyright Royal Mail
2007. Norvic FDCs are copyright Norvic Philatelics 2007, designs
produced using stamp elements by kind permission of Royal Mail.

Norvic Exclusive First Day Cover

We have three exclusive covers for this issue, for the prestige
stamp book panes, the miniature sheet, and the third has been used for
both the Smilers sheet and the miniature sheet.
Our cover designs for this issue use stamps, postmarks, and the
original 1967 first day cover design by kind permission of Royal Mail.

1. The Miniature sheet FDC based on the 1967 GPO first day cover - price
£7.50 - available with FD626NP Windsor FDI postmark as shown,
or with L10531.Note: this is NOT a double-dated cover - 1967 covers were not
big enough to accommodate the 2007 MS as well as the 1967 stamps.
(Image of actual cover.)

2. The Prestige Book Pane set of 4 FDCs Price £18.75 per
set with 4 different postmarks. (Image of actual
covers.)
This cover carries an illustration of the 1999 1st class black
(typographed by Harrison & Sons) issued in the Profile on Print
PSB, by kind permission of Royal Mail. Click here for larger pictures of each of the PSB
covers: Pane 1 - Pane
2 - Pane 3 - Pane
4

3. By popular request we have used our third cover for both the
Smilers and as an alternative cover for the miniature sheet.
This design uses the classic Machin head made of a montage of early
Machin definitive and regional stamps, and is also used by kind
permission of Royal Mail.

Special Postmarks
Postmarks available for the day of issue are shown below - these may
not be to scale. The actual FD- postmarks were far better than the
pre-issue images (see FDC #1 above); L10352 is larger than all
the rest and so was not used on our Smilers covers because it would
have swamped the stamps; impressions of L10544 are as poor as
it looks, unfortunately.
These postmarks cannot be obtained after the date of issue.

Ref FD725
Philatelic Bureau Official Postmark "The Most Familiar Piece of
20th
Century British Sculpture" A N Wilson

Ref FD726
Windsor Official non-pictorial Postmark "Things men have made with
wakened hands" D H Lawrence

Ref FD739
Stoke-on-Trent Official non-pictorial Postmark "I think I was born
a
terracotta modeller!" A Machin

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